New Wetaskiwin shelter opens

A new emergency shelter is now open in Wetaskiwin, replacing a temporary site that has served the community since 2022.

“This shelter is purpose-built from the ground up,” says Ade Adeoye, director of emergency care and housing.

The new shelter has 50 beds and a dining room—which doubles as a multipurpose community hall—that can seat up to 40 people at once. There’s a full-sized commercial kitchen and private counselling spaces where individuals can connect one-on-one with nursing staff, spiritual care, or counselling.

“The services are pretty much the same as before, but much more enhanced.”

While the old shelter accommodated a full range of services—meals, hygiene and laundry services, nursing care, identification and income supports—it also meant working in tight quarters without much privacy.

“Our dining room was also our sleeping area,” says Jessica Pulsifer, shelter operations coordinator, whose old office also functioned as a medication room and kitchen. “Someone could be sick and trying to rest in their bed while a few feet away someone was eating dinner.”

“This really feels like a fresh start.”

A larger permanent facility with private space opens up new opportunities to partner with other community health providers and bring services directly on site.

“It has a really purposeful design that I think will lead to a lot of positive outcomes,” says Ade.

That builds on existing relationships the shelter team has with health providers, RCMP, EMS, and the local hospital. For example, if a discharged patient is unhoused and needs a place to stay, the hospital can call the shelter, and the Hope Mission rescue van will coordinate transportation, creating a warm handoff from hospital to shelter.

“The hospital is on the other side of Wetaskiwin, about a 40-minute walk,” says Jessica. “Having the rescue van is critical.”

Hope Mission has been part of the Wetaskiwin community for several years through preventative programs, including school food programs, after-school programs, and a horse-riding program at Bethany Homes.

• Read more: Wetaskiwin locations and services

The new facility builds on four years of experience operating a temporary shelter in the city.

In 2025 alone, the shelter welcomed 609 unique individuals, with 59 per cent staying 14 nights or less. Just four per cent of shelter users (25 individuals) were chronically homeless, staying more than 180 nights.

That experience has shaped how the team approaches shelter in Wetaskiwin—the first community outside of Edmonton in which Hope Mission has operated this service.

“Wetaskiwin is unique as a community—different from downtown Edmonton,” says Ade.

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In Edmonton, there is a lot of opioid use in the inner city. In Wetaskiwin, while there is some opioid use, alcohol addiction is more common.

“When we think about the causative and resultant factors of homelessness, alcohol abuse often results in aggression and violence,” says Ade. “We recognize that and structure the program accordingly.”

Mental health challenges are also prominent among those experiencing homelessness in Wetaskiwin. The team added a registered psychiatric nurse early on, and the shelter partners with Bethany Homes to provide horse therapy for community members.

“There’s something about relating with animals that helps create a sense of calm and normalcy,” says Ade.

Construction on a permanent shelter began in the spring of 2024, on land donated by the City of Wetaskiwin, with $6.8 million in capital funding from Hope Mission and $3.2 million from the province.

Having lived in Wetaskiwin for 16 years and worked at Hope Mission for three, Jessica is glad to see the new shelter open and provide a range of services.

“We’re not just a place to sleep,” she says. “We work with people to reconnect with family, find housing, or whatever they need so their stay is short-term. We’re here to help people move forward.”